Refrigerator



J. BECK REFRIGERATOR Dec. 27, 1932.

2 Shets-Sheef Filed Sept. 1, 1928 INVENTOR JOHN BECK 5: 6 m (Pin/V A,

A TTORNE-YS Dec. 27, 1932. BECK REFRIGERATOR Filed Sept. 1, 1928 2 Sheets*Sheet i 1% M III'll,II,IIIIIIIIIIIIIII,IIIIIIIIll/IIIIIIIIIIIn 'IIIIIIIIII; 'lI/III/II TNVENTOR JOHN BE OK yGEWQ Patented Dec. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application filed September 1, 1928. Serial No. 803,401.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in refrigerators, generally, and an object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator having means therein for com pelling air currents to pass upwardly along one wall of the food contaim'ng chamber, thence across the structure and in contact with the under surface only of the refri erant, usually a block of ice, positioned in the upper portion of the structure, and then downwardly along the opposite side of the structure into the main portion of the foodcontaining chamber.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator having an ice chamber located in its upper portion and a food chamber in its lower portion, directly below the ice chamber, with a drip pan, preferably inclined, arranged below the lower chamber adapted to catch the water from the melting ice, said pan having its ends closely secured to the contiguous walls of the refrigerator with spaces between the free edges of the pan and the opposite walls of the chamber and providing air-circulating passages therebetween, such arrangement causing the air to circulate upwardly along the front wall of the food chamber, thence across the chamber in contact with the bottom surface of the refrigerant, and downwardly along the opposite wall of the chamber, thereby causing the warmer air rising in the food chamber to contact with the bottom surface of the ice, as the air passes horizontally across the same, 5 whereby it is cooled and caused to circulate downwardly at the rear of the food chamber, thereby maintaining a constant circulation of the air currents up along one wall of the food chamber, thence across along the under surface of the ice and thence down along the other wall of the chamber.

A further object is to rovide. a refrigerator having an upper ice c amber and a lower is supported, the ends of which are secured to the walls of the refrigerator at the ends of the pan by means of air tight joints, and the op osite edges of the pan bei spaced from t e corresponding walls of t e food chamber to provlde air circulating passages,

food chamber between which an inclined pan said pan comprising upper and lower walls spaced apart to provide a dead air space which functions to insulate the two walls from each other to prevent the air from condensing upon the lower wall of the pan.

Other 0 jects of the invention will appear from the specification and the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my improved refrigerator, indicating the circulation of the air currents therein;

Figure '2 is a detail sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view on the line 3-3 of'Figure l.

In the selected embodiment of the invention here shown, for purposes of disclosure, there is illustrated in Figure 1, a refrigerator comprising a rear Wall 2, side walls 3, and a front'wall 4. An ice chamber 5 is provided in the upper portion of the refrigerator and has a door 6 for the insertion of ice in the chamber. A food-preserving chamber 7 is provided in the lower portion of the refrigerator directly beneath the ice chamber 5.

This chamber has a door 8 sure therefor. n

An ice-supporting rack 9 is provided between the two chambers and is preferably supported upon ledges 11 secured to the front and-rearwalls as shown in Figure 1. The upper surfaces of these ledges are preferably inclineddownwardly so as to cause water to drain therefrom, and the lower surfaces 12 thereof are preferably curved as shown, to more readily direct the air currents into contact with the bottom of the ice and therefrom. A head or rib 13 is provided on each ledge 11 to prevent .water from running downwardly over the curved' surfaces 12. These ribs direct the water to an inclined pan 10, arranged directly beneath the ice' rack 9, as shown in Figure 1; a

A feature of the invention resides in the construction of this pan. As shown in Figure 1, it comprises an upper wall14 and a lower wall 15, spaced apart to provide a dead air space 16 which functions as a heat insuproviding a c10- latin means for the lower surface of the pan.

The ront edge of the pan is spaced from the front wall portion 4 of the refrigerator to provide an air-circulating passage 17 and has preferably an upstanding portion 18 to prevent water from flowing over the front edge of the pan into the air-circulating passage 17. The rear edge of the pan is likewise spaced from the back wall 2 to provide an air-circulating passage 19. This edge also fixedly secured to the side walls 3 by means of suitable air-tight joints, as shown in Fig ure 2. The drain pan is preferably constructed of sheet metal formed as shown in Figure 1 and has its opposed ends secured to 1 the inner lining of the side Walls 3 by suitable means such as soldering.

Because of the arrangement of the drain pan as shown. in Figure 1, that is, with its front and rear edges spaced respectively from the front and rear walls of the refrigerator, the air within the food chamber will circulate in one direction only, as indicated by thearrows. The open ice-supporting rack 9 permits the air, rising through the air passage 17, to travel across and in contact with the bottom of the ice,whereby it is cooled and caused to circulate downwardly through the air passage 19, and along the rear wall of the food chamber, mingling with and cooling the air in the lower chamber. With this arrangement, the air does not enter the upper chamber but merely traverses the space between the pan and the ice-supports in contact with the surface of the ice resting on the supports. The circulation of air through the food chamber will therefore be in one direction only, as indicated by the arrows, it being impossible for the air to circulate around the opposite ends of the pan because of the tight j oints provided between the ends of the cause 0 the dead air space 16 provided in the pan 10, the two walls 14 and 15 thereof will be insulated from one another to prevent the absorption of heat from the lower wall of the pan,thereby preventing the accumulation of moisture on the lower surface of the bottom wall' 15, resulting from condensation and the dripping of such moisture into the space below the pan.

In ractice, the pan 10 is preferably arranged as shown in Figure 1, so that the aircircula'ting passage 17 between the upstanding portion 18 and the adjacent curved surface 12, will be slightly smaller than the aircirculating passage 19, provided between the upstanding portion 21 of the rear edge of pan and the contiguous walls. Be-

the pan and the curved surface 12 adjacent thereto. It is to be understood, of course, that if desired, the position of the drain pan may be changed so as to make the air-circulating passages 17 and 19 of uniform size and,

. also, if desired, the lower surfaces 12 of the led es 11 may be straight insteadof curved,

wit out departing from the scope of the invention.

Changes may be made in the details of the structure and in the size and proportions of the parts without departing from my invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

In a refrigerator, an ice chamber in the upper part of the structure having an open bottom, a bottom chamber in the lower part of the structure, an inclined pan in the upper part of the lower chamber below said open bottom and adapted to receive water from melting ice, said pan having air-tight joints between its ends and the contiguous walls of the chamber and having its edges spaced from the other walls of the chamber to provide air-circulating passages, upwardly and inwardly directed surfaces defining the outer walls of said air-circulating passages, and means adjacent to the lower edge of the pan for conducting water from said pan, the

whole arranged so that air will be circulated through the lower chamber in one direction only, upwardly along the wall opposite said water outlet means and upwardly along the lower, inclined wall of the pan, through the adjacent air-circulating passage, transversely of the structure in contact with the ice and between the ice and the upper, downwardly inclined wall of the pan, through the other air-circulating passage, and downwardly along the wall of the structure adjacent to said water outlet means.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of August, 1928.

JOHN BECK. 

